Bike model used and skimmed over seriously for no reason: Harley-Davidson XL Sportster 1957

After that whole fiasco, Virto needed the afternoon to recover before they could trudge on once more. They already had their minerals and metals and Mananodium to make portals three times over, and now they needed the small, obscure magical bits that had to fill in for stuff that could only be found on earth, such as…

"Electricity," Virto yelled, pointing to a graphic of a bolt drew on the wall of the library. Lao raised his hand with a question. "Yes Lao?"

"We don't have any of it."

"Exactly!" Virto said. "This world's electricity generally comes from more….sexual sources, and we are both in relationships, so it's kind of out of the question to attempt to recreate some science here."

"Don't you have a watch?"

"I do, but it doesn't run on electricity. Its power comes from more...sexual sources."

"Gross."

"I have no shame about it," Virto said, winking. "Get it, J. Cole line?"

"Never try to appeal to me or anyone else like me that way again."

"Sore crowd today," Virto said with unamused eyes. He took out a pointer stick, tapping the electricity drawing again. "The point is, we are unable to get it through conventional means, but I know how we can power it."

"Gross."

Virto sighed. "I meant kinetic energy Lao."

"Gross," Lao said again, this time with a small smirk.

"An Archimedes Screw! We're gonna- oh forget it you're just gonna point out the word screw." Virto pulled up a schematic of one on his watch, showing the cork-screw-like figure with a rotating handle at the end. "This was used to bring water in for irrigation. You turn the handle at the end, and the rotational nature of the screw keeps water that it scoops up against the metal until the end, where there is no more screw to cause centrifugal force and the water falls where it needs to go."

"That's pretty cool, but question. Who's going to turn that long enough to power the portal?"

"We will only need to power it long enough for an established connection, then the mutual connection of the two portals can figure itself out," Virto said.

"Well, who's going to make enough power to start the portal then?"

"I got that covered," Virto said winking again.

"That wasn't another lyric was it?"

"Do I really sound that bad?" Virto said, putting away the pointer.

"No no, it's just that you look so much like a science teacher right now that...flashbacks." Lao waved the issue away, sitting up on the backrest of his chest. "So, where are we getting this screw?"

"I already have them all ordered, no more cave collapses needed," Virto said. "Once they get here, we will deliver them on...this!" Virto disappeared behind their shelves, coming back out with a motorcycle. "Perfectly eco-friendly too."

"Okay, okay…" Lao said with a bit of skepticism. "But why not just a car at that point? It's bigger and if we are in a pinch...you know."

"One, I do not feel good running people over," Virto said. "And two, this is faster, more agile, can accelerate, and built to survive a war era."

"Can you slide in it?" Lao asked. Virto gave him a weird look, watching Lao wave him on. "You know, that sideways drift that cool guys always do to stop the bike in cartoons and anime?"

"Do you mean the Akira slide?" Virto asked.

"I don't know, but they also put their foot down on the ground when they slide sometimes."

"That is the Akira slide. Also no, this bike is too old for that."

"Then make it not old!" Lao said, getting up to pat the bike's seat padding. "You were able to make it run on not gasoline, why not just, spoof it up a bit?"

"That would require an entire remaking of the bike and would take weeks," Virto said. "We only have five more days to get this portal done."

"Why five?"

"I don't know, I just like setting deadlines, just- We are not doing any crazy stuff on this bike alright?" Virto squatted down and wiped some dust off the engine. "You're driving since you're better at bike riding. We are hauling screws, installing them, and making the rounds to places to tell kids about them, but only at a safe speed. Got it Lao?" He looked up, catching his friend check how far the speedometer could get up to. "Lao."

"Whaat?" Lao said annoyed. "I was counting the notches up. 160, 165..."

"That's in kph."

Lao turned around, hearing the three dreaded letters he hated so much. "You evil bastard."

One by one, the screws were installed as the duo went around to nearby bodies of water. Each cluster of homes they encountered was created with the roar of a 630cc engine filled the woods. Onlookers watched on as a person in a lab coat and a suit-wearing bounty hunter took turns hammering the base of the water pump into the ground beside rivers, then dropping the screw's end alongside the waters. The children would then watch from behind the protective arms of the parents as they were shown how the screw worked, Oooing and Aaa-ing with intrigue as they watched water seemly ignore the gaps in the screw and drop into the bucket and small path back to the water. The children, thinking that the two strangers had brought some sort of magic, would then surround the screw pump once the two leave on their weird metallic horse, taking turns joyfully turning the screw with a round handle and bringing the water to their parents.

No one seemed to know how it worked, how the water hugged the screws innards long enough to reach the end, how it didn't just fall out between the pretty apparent gaps all over, how the local magician couldn't sense an ounce of mana used on the screw.

One thing is for sure though; it had the children all tuckered out before the sun had gone down.

"Is a weird screw really that interesting?" Lao asked, leaning on some of the spare ones they had while Virto rooted the next structure into the ground.

"To us, not really. We could always look up how it works on Google. We know at the very least it is some weird, interesting math concept that makes water stay inside, and we have plenty of other phenomena that make this thing look like a children's toy."

"To them however…" Virto paused his explanation, grunting a few times as pushed the nail the rest of the way into the ground. "Nnnh! There….now, this world is a cornucopia of magic, to the point where it's unheard of to use a neat physics property instead of plain magic. Magic is magic, but magic that isn't magic-"

"Would make their head explode!" Lao jumped in.

"Yeah, in a way. Can't you do the last nail? I'm pretty exhausted."

Lao nodded and took over for Virto, hammering and pressing the last big nail in. "You know, seeing our last few adventures, I'm surprised that this one was pretty chill."

"Well not all my work involves weird portals or aliens," Virto said. "Sometimes it is just work or boring routine checkups like this. Didn't you do stuff like this at your job?"

"I wouldn't call repairing sedans boring but…yeah, I would definitely prefer stuff like that to saving you from a slime monster." They both chuckled a bit, the mood dying down as a still quietness overtook them. They looked at the water beside them, catching their reflections.

"We…really left a lot of stuff behind, didn't we?" Virto said while patting his cheek. "People think I'm dead, and your clone is…"

"Doing…clone things." Lao ran his hand through his golden hair. "I'm not even sure if people would recognize me anymore."

"Same, but I don't know. I think I like the changes."

"Speak for yourself," Lao said pulling on his own face cheeks. "At least it's your own body that's changing. You think when we go back through, we will keep all this?"

"Even if we lose it, we at least got each other right?" Virto wrapped an arm around Lao's neck, giving him a friendly peck on his forehead. He saw Lao jerk his head upward and chuckled. "Right homie?"

"Ummm." Lao's confusion was cut off by an assortment of howls. The two scrambled on their feet and pulled out weapons, seeing a lone hellhound girl watching them from behind the bush. "What are you two doing in my woods!?"

"Oh, you live here?" Virto said, lowering his gun. "Well that's swell, we were just here to install a brand spanking new-"

"I hate new, take it and go away!" She barked for emphasis, growling when they didn't start to run. "I said move! Or else mama's going to have two new chew toys under her paws."

"Oh, wow, third person. So spoooky," Lao sarcastically replied. "I don't think you noticed me and my friend having a moment here, but it's just one of you and two of us, with guns. I think you should be the one that's moving along, bitch." He held up his hand, getting an emphatic high five from Virto. "That's right!"

"So you think just because I'm the only hellhound here, that I'm an easy picking?" She said laughing evilly. "Oooh I seee, you wish to add to the numerous tales of hellhound sex you see online! I didn't know you had a deathwish.~"

"Online?" Lao said, tilting his head. "There's intern-You know what, never mind, you and what army bitch?"

"You are going to regret calling me that once you're stuffed under my bed." She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled, as seven smaller hellhounds came out from the shrubbery behind her. "This army, or is it still too small for your tastes Orderite?"

"Um…" Lao had expected a few, maybe three more hellhounds, but not a whole litter. He coughed and cleared his throat, catching Virto picking up the tools in the corner of his eye.

"What, wan got your tongue?~" She joked with a smug grin. "Don't worry, I'm never gonna give it back~"

"Tempting offer, buuuuut…" Virto revved the motorcycle, pushing the hellhounds back as he scooted himself towards Lao. "We got other things to screw into."

"Hop on Lao, I actually don't know how to ride this thing," Virto whispered, scooting back as Lao hopped on and kicked up the stand, kicking dirt up as he speed away from the hellhounds. They were zipping by trees and ducking branches in moments. Leaving their den far behind in their rearview mirrors.

"Yeah!" Virto said, looking back at the trees that disappeared. There was no sign of murderously horny dogs, the only noise being the engine that purred while they weaved around the trees. They emerged onto a path, Lao doing a hard break right before really letting the throttle open.

"And they thought they could keep up," Lao joked, hearing laughing to the side of them. He saw the hellhound mother keeping pace with them, jumping out from the trees to chance behind them on the dirt road. "You may be able to outrun my children, but your little horse is useless against me!"

"Aren't we going 110 kilometers per hour?" Lao asked. "Nothing runs that fast!"

"Except her it seems, keep it steady!" Virto turned himself around on the bike, forming the gun in his hand and taking aim. The bumpiness of the dirt made it hard to aim but he shot anyway, sending bullets into the veil of dust the monster girl ran through. She dodged everything, leaping to and fro only the catch right back up. He got frustrated as she got closer to their rear bumper with each shot, turning back around to urge Lao faster. "Nothing's hitting!"

"Just slow down you two, we can have a lovely chat!~" she said, leaping to bite Virto's leg. He lifted it up shrieking, watching her roll twice before she went right back into her chase. "Can't we go any faster Lao!?"

"I have a better idea," Lao said, "But you're going to have to trust me, and hold on!" He sped up, jerking the bike right before hitting the brakes and pushing down the kickstand. He turned left, spinning the entire bike sideways as they slide horizontally down at breakneck speed.

"What are you doing!?" Virto yelled in a frenzy.

"Saving our butts!" Lao said. With the moment he had mid-slide, he had an easy time taking out his gun and aiming to the Hellhound. Firing off three shots until a well-placed yellow round hit the hellhound on her neck. It all happened within a fraction of a second, the bike coming to a hard stop as the dust from the bike slide enveloped Lao and Virto. They watched as the hellhound came to a stop in a rough tumble. To say it wasn't a clean stop would be an understatement - then again, tripping at parkway speeds would do that to anyone. She slowly stirred herself up, dragging herself to Virto's leg and collapsing in front of him. "I…..have you…."

"I think you need to get yourself first," Virto said, shaking his leg until she let go with a groan. "Lao, I thought I told you not to do that slide."

"Oh come on that was as perfect as it could get!"

"I'm not saying I was doubting your ability," Virto clarified. "I was worried about the bike being able to take the stress. It's not exactly built for drifting sideways like that. I mean imagine if it-"

Creeeeaak. The two (well, three) looked towards the bike, watching in silence until suddenly, the engine dropping to the ground broke the silence. The fuel leaked out onto the dirt, Lao looking away rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah…."

"Although, you still did save us, and that was a pretty cool slide." Virto punched his shoulder smiling. "Now, what do we do with the hellhound?" They looked at the unconscious monster girl, the wound in her neck still sizzling away...

"Is she going to be alright?" One of her children said, the group all crowding the glass window in the library. Lao sort of held them back, looking onward to where Virto was treating their mother. He saw the worried look in their eye, their paws all pressed on the glass as they watched the bullet get taken out of her throat.

"She will be fine," Lao said back. "I know my friend, and he's great at stuff like this."

Inside, Virto was finishing up his procedure, wrapping one last layer of gauze around her neck. The hellhound's eyes fluttered awake, seeing the blobs to her side slowly turn into her family. She looked up and she saw a blinding light, turning her vision too white to bear. She panned down, seeing one of the men tending to her paw. She tried sitting up, but the man quickly noticed and came up to her, urging her back down. "Stop, you will hurt yourself," Virto said. Feeling a paw squeeze his lab coat.

"W-why am I here?" She said, her voice hoarse. "What are you doing with us?"

"Haven't thought that far, though we couldn't just leave you laying with your bones broken," he said. "You might have to stay with us for a while, you and your family."

"Ugh." The thought of it put a bad taste in her mouth, turning away from his face, so he would have to see her embarrassment. "This is humiliating…"

"Why? I'm pretty sure I would die if I went rolling out of a car speeding down a road. The fact that you're alive is a miracle from my perspective."

"Because you're supposed to be my prey, human." She rolled over, holding her waist and wincing as she turned to face the wall. "Now you're taking care of me like you're some mom of mine." She took a peek at him, seeing him clean of a pair of tweezers. He stared back with a small frown on his face, moving the cloth around absent-mindedly. "Just tell me your price already, although you've already taken my dignity." Virto sighed and rolled his eyes, putting down his things and sitting on the table with the hellhound.

"What are they talking about?" one of the children asked Lao, having climbed up on top of his head to be able to see better. "I don't know," Lao replied, getting more climbers as they tried to see what was going on.

"Why does mama have bandages?" Went another.

"I don't know."

"Can mama stand up?" Another still asked while seeing her get help sitting up on the table

"Is mama okay?"

"Yes! Let's just...why don't we just give her some time." Lao pushed all of them away, leaving Virto and the hellhound alone.

"...So no, you didn't look weak. In fact, being able to hold yourself up like this afterward...that's pretty strong of anyone." He patted her shoulder reassuringly, watching her nod slightly as her legs dangled off the table. "Do you feel better now?"

"A bit. I'm ready to go home now." She hopped off the table, yelping in pain and using the table to keep her from falling. Virto hurried down and put her around his shoulder. "Woah there, your legs need time to heal, and your neck wound isn't exactly closed right now."

"But, what can I do in the meantime?" She asked. Virto thought about it, a lightbulb brightening in his head as he opened the door to the main portion of the library. "I may have an idea…"

Isuka nodded along while Virto explained how having several hellhounds living inside the library will somehow supply power to the portal that Lao and Virto were working on. She had just woken up, evident by the blanket surrounding her entire body that dragged along the ground wherever she went. Her bangs covered her eyes and she constantly had to part them so she didn't end up bumping into shelves. "So, what do I get out of this?" She yawned, getting handed a cup of coffee that Virto prepared.

"The eternal gratitude and debt of me and the mother," he said, opening the door to the back of the library. She saw a pool that had appeared out of nowhere, as the hellhound children feverishly turn the screws. Each one had its designated section where water collected from the screw would pour into the sections, slowly draining the main pool until it was barren. One of the hellhounds jumped in victory once the water was gone, as most of the water had gone into her part of the pool.

"Don't worry, this contraption would keep them from burning down your books," Virto said. "And the mom is always there watching." He pointed to the mama hellhound reclined on a beach chair, holding a tall glass of lemonade and wearing shades. She raised the glass, saying hi to the two of them before going back to watching them and sipping. "So, any questions?"

She looked around one last time and shrugged. "I need to sleep. I have a very taxing quest later and I need all the rest I can get, alright?" Virto nodded and watched her go inside. He turned around and sat on the grass, looking up at the blue sky. "We're getting close Leana," he said. "Give us a bit more time, we'll be there in no time."